Oatley Vigmond LLP and Boland Howe LLP announced today that effective Jan. 1, 2018, their personal injury law firms will be joining forces with Boland Howe becoming Oatley Vigmond’s Aurora office.
Oatley Vigmond LLP and Boland Howe LLP announced today that effective Jan. 1, 2018, their personal injury law firms will be joining forces with Boland Howe becoming Oatley Vigmond’s Aurora office.
The two firms will work together as a single entity under the Oatley Vigmond name.
“It was a perfect opportunity for us to say to them ‘let’s open our York Region Oatley Vigmond office and you’ll be a key part of it,’” Jim Vigmond told Legal Feeds. “There’s an opportunity for us to leverage our practice in a prominent location with a prominent firm in a fast-growing area of the country.”
Tim Boland says he approached Vigmond several months ago after Russ Howe advised him he wanted to become a mediator.
"At this stage of my career, I had to think long and hard about where I saw the direction of my firm," says Boland. "It was an easy decision once I thought about looking forward. I’ve always seen Oatley Vigmond as a firm that shared my belief that properly representing the injured means having an earned reputation for taking cases to trial — putting the gowns on. In today’s marketplace, I think that’s meaningful."
Howe is joining Paul Torrie at Global Resolutions Inc., a dispute resolution provider in Toronto. He says he also plans to travel more with his wife who is best-selling novelist KJ Howe, author of The Freedom Broker.
Boland Howe recently purchased a new office in Aurora. Vigmond said all the lawyers and staff from Boland Howe will remain. Howe will be moving on to be a mediator this winter.
“We will be carrying on the bulk of his practice as well,” says Vigmond. “We’re going to start the transition now and we’ve got lots to do.”
Boland Howe’s Aurora office will remain fully staffed and serve as Oatley Vigmond’s new York Region location.
“I’m going there on Wednesday to meet with some of the staff to reassure them we all share a common interest and that’s maintaining the presence and staff there,” he says. “There’s always trepidation when there is change, so we want to reassure them there is change for the right reason not the wrong reason as we are seeing in some parts of our marketplace.”
Oatley Vigmond serves clients across Ontario with offices in Barrie and Aurora, as well as six consultation offices found in Toronto, North York, Hamilton, Belleville, Sudbury and North Bay.
"I think by leveraging the strengths and branding of both firms we will have a much better market penetration to help accident victims in York Region and hopefully beyond," says Boland.
Both firms have been listed by Canadian Lawyer magazine in the Top 10 personal injury law firms in Canada.
Editor's note: Story updated Sept. 11 at 10:45 to include comments from Tim Boland.
